Heart of God: love people and hate sin

“I was greatly displeased and threw all Tobiah’s household goods out of the room. I gave orders to purify the rooms, and then I put back into them the equipment of the house of God, with the grain offerings and the incense. ” Nehemiah 13:8-9

“In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!” John 2:14-16

What do these verse make you think about? Do they conjure an image of God or God’s leaders that you are comfortable with? These are both stories of God’s leaders being angry at the injustice being done to God’s house, and addressing sin.

Sin is a horrible offense to God. It separates us from him, but it also pollutes God’s family, his church, and his name in the world. Many Christians and churches tolerate sin and do not address it. They rationalize it away, turn a blind eye, or address certain sins while leaving others unaddressed. On the other hand some churches take such a strong hand against sin that once a sin is identified the sinner is berated, abused, cast out, even to the point of shunning.

How do we find the heart of God in loving people and hating sin? Is it really that hard?

Interesting article. I didn’t realize church discipline was resurfacing. I think it is a valuable practice, if handled correctly. In the case of Mrs. Caskey it sounds like she did not repent, so therefore Biblically she should not be accepted back in. Regardless of whether the pastor was right or wrong he was in charge and she was not being obedient. Hebrews tells us to obey and submit to the leaders as long as it does not oppose God’s word.

In my case the most troubling thing is there is no opening for repentance. The bible says if a sinner repents they should be forgiven and the church should allow them to return. It troubles me that my pastor and elders won’t even open the door for repentance to be reinstated to God’s family. If the elders don’t allow it they are not forgiving and Matthew 6:14-15 says that God will not forgive them. They also are teaching (or guiding and controlling) an entire church community to reject, shun, cut off, and be unforgiving. I can’t see how any of that makes God happy. God’s heart for church discpline is to bring the sinner to repentance so they can spend eternity in relationship with him. It brings him such glory and joy when a sinner repents and when they are reinstated and live a new life without sin.

It disturbs me greatly that this church is shunning you under the guise of Biblical discipline. You are exactly right – there was no door for repentence. And that is flat out wrong.

I often think of the verse where Jesus essentially says stop pointing out the speck in someone else’s eyes when there is a plank in yours. While this church is shunning you, they are forgetting the great sin they are committing.

Well technically they aren’t using the guise of Biblical discipline. They have never said that, but that is the only Biblical reason possible for removing me from the church. Otherwise they are just plain shunning me. I understand the pastor told my counselor that Matthew 18 did not fit this situation and they used 1 Corinthians 5 because I was not a believer who was claiming to be one and therefore I was publically a threat to the church and needed to be removed immediately. I accepted Christ at 15 and have never had anyone tell me they doubted that due to my words or actions. Considering I have shaped my whole life around Christ, my music/movie/books/activities are all highly impacted by my faith, I give away about 20% of my income, try to volunteer as often as I can find opportunities, have served in ministry and missions for years, have attended church almost every single week of my life, spend time daily in prayer and Bible study, and have remained a virgin all due to my faith…..well, the elders are going to have an interesting conversation with God over this claim. Even if I wasn’t a believer they should be seeking to make me one as we are told to “go and make disciples” and “love your neighbor”. I completely admit I had some big obstacles and was walking in a lot of unbelief, but I have now recognized and repented of that and God is doing some amazing healing in my life. They are unwilling to communicate to see that though.

Back in January I was talking to my pastor about struggles I was having with our home groups and he told me, “First, I believe you walk with the Lord. Of course there are struggles, but I think you have an intimate relationship with the Lord. Next, your heart for service is needed to help us get to where we want to be. I know you, like everyone else, can struggle with selfishness, but your heart to serve is there – we need that. Another thing is the steps of faith you’ve taken to be here – this is good. You also bring an authenticity that is TOTALLY healthy – and this could be a great benefit to our church if you can get to the point of sharing who you really are (I’m sure that can be a little scary for you, but the fact is the Lord has done and is doing great things in you and people need to see/hear/be part of that). ” His words sure don’t sound like he had any question about whether I was a believer. On March 26th he also asked me to head up a mission trip in September. How that changed through one conversation and three email threads over the next nine weeks to me being a non-believer and removed from the church makes no sense!

Do you think it’s possible he was jealous of your faith somehow? Was he concerned you saw his doubts even though you may not have? His radically different comments – you are faithful, you are not a Christian – seem like his own struggles projected onto you. I could be way off base.

I also think this shunning has nothing to do with you. I think there is something deeper at play that you are being used as the scapegoat for.

This pastor seems to be hiding behind the Bible to justify these egregious actions against you.

I think he may have felt confronted or shame because I said that I was confused by some things I saw in his life where words and actions didn’t seem to match up. I wouldn’t talk about it in front of the elder though because I didn’t want to make it an accusation (and then be disciplined for making an accusation against the pastor) and I was still trying to figure out if I was just missing something. Also I expressed confusion over why as a church we were not opening the Bible or praying and I think that was viewed as “unsubmissive” to their leadership. He is a great teacher and he speaks to/trains people across the nation. I respect that a great deal. Things changed once he started talking to the elders, I am wondering if it is one or more of them that has changed things as I have not even meet three of them, and the one I do know of is not someone I had relationship with. He is highly submissive to them, so if they have told him to respond this way to me he would do that without question. The pastor told me in mid-April that he and his wife love me and he wants to work through things. Again, I am not sure what changed, but it was at that time that things changed.

Oh, and if the enemy wants to make me a scapegoat and expects me to just roll over…..he has a fight on his hands. I have the whole power and victory of God on my side! I don’t think anyone expected me to walk through this like I have and to grow with God like this. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 I do love him and believe I have been called to his purpose and I will not let this take me out!

Hmmm . . .I think you hit on something here. You pointed out the lack of Biblical teaching, some contradictions you were seeing in word and actions. It’s very possible the elders may have pushed him to this, or fear was driving him to push you out before you said something to an elder. Just a thought . . .

Being made a scapegoat is not fun or fair. All things do work together for the glory of God. I believe that whole heartily.

It’s very possible that God was at work here and wanted to protect you from this church. It’s also very possible you are meant for larger things that you would not have been able to accomplish by staying within this flock.